Streaks Snapped As #8 Spartans Get Revenge Against Saint Leo

SAINT LEO, Fla. - The No. 8 University of Tampa Spartans (25-2, 12-1) overcame a rambunctious crowd and a first set loss to brush aside the No. 12 Saint Leo Lions 3-1 at the Bowman Center. The Lions were the last team to beat the Spartans back on Oct. 3, and saw their 23-match win streak come to an end. Tampa won by scores of 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-14, and moves into a first place tie with the Lions in the Sunshine State Conference and in the South Region.

The Lions opened the match strong with a 5-1 run to force an early Tampa timeout. The Spartans responded by bringing the game to within one at 10-9. However, SLU slowly pulled away as Tampa committed six service errors to help give the Lions a 25-20 first set victory. The loss snaps a streak of 30 consecutive sets won by the Spartans dating back to Oct. 6. The streak will go down as the third longest in the program's history.

The second game was a fiercely contested stanza featuring 10 tie scores as neither team could muster more than a two-point advantage. The Lions finally went ahead 22-19, when Kaleigh Cunningham slammed four consecutive kills to aid a 6-1 run for the Spartans, good enough to even the match at one a piece.

Tampa put together a three-point lead early in the third frame, and maintained it till the score was 18-15. Back-to-back blocks by Melissa Vanderhall and Danielle Selkridge extended the lead to five and swung the momentum over to the Spartans, which went on to take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-18 win. Selkridge had a hand in four of Tampa's seven blocks, and limited the Lions to a .091 hitting percentage for the set.

Then in the fourth set, the Spartans raced to an 11-5 lead and ran away with game stretching the advantage to 11 to win 25-14. Vanderhall converted eight of 11 for the frame as the team hit .484 to seal the 3-1 triumph.

Vanderhall finished with a match-best 20 kills at an unbelievable .500 attack percentage. Not to be outdone, Cunningham - the two-time defending SSC Player of the Week - followed with 18 kills, and notched her third consecutive double-double, adding 15 digs. Selkridge and Eva Dupay contributed with eight kills each, as the team hit .350 for the match. Meghan Sherman eclipsed a new career high in assists with 54, and was one dig away from a double-double.

The Spartan defense might of had its best showing on the season, collecting 67 digs, 12 blocks, and limiting the Lions high-flying offense to a modest .221 hitting percetage. Libero Julie Howlett notched a match-high 21 digs to pace the back row, and Dupay turned in 13 scoops. Selkridge registered seven blocks, good for a personal season high.

Saint Leo had three players in double-figure kills, as Kaitlin McKenna and Emily Calderon-Reyes each recorded 13, and Danielle Bletso picked up 10. Setter Michelle Nogueras handed out 38 assists, and Chelsea Armer tallied 18 digs.

Tampa hits the road again this Saturday for a 4 p.m. match-up at Florida Southern. UT will offer live stats through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may visit www.tampaspartans .com and click on Multimedia to view the services. Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers eScores, which is a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events.